CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Riding with Team Sciatica is pure hell...

(11 posts)
  • Started 9 years ago by Mandopicker101
  • Latest reply from Nelly
  • This topic is resolved

  1. Mandopicker101
    Member

    I'm seeking advice on cycling with lower back problems and whether this a sensible idea. Having tenatively ridden to work yesterday and again this morning I'm not feeling any adverse effects...yet...

    Given that received wisdom is that exercise and mobility is good for promoting healing in back problems, cycling to work (carefully) would appear OK so long as you're not feeling worse for it. Or should I shut my eyes to the nice weather and stick to judicious quantities of walking and play 100% safe?

    My understanding is that my current problems flow from muscle damage and that this is pressing on the sciatic nerve, rather than a disc episode. Or so thought the massage therapist I saw last week...

    Any thoughts or experiences welcomed!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    TL:DR for beneath: keep it moving, as long as it doesn't exacerbate it (as said my doctor).

    I've had something weird going on with my left leg/hip/ilium/knee for the past four months, which I can probably partially blame on child-related sitting in an uncomfortable position on a hard floor, squidging a nerve or a tendon between a bone and a floor. It started as a twinge in my left hip when I stood up after an hour or so sitting at work, but was completely unaffected by being crashed-into and de-biked in December, then suddenly changed to Ibruprofen-resistant pain in either my hip or knee when I stood still a couple of days before new year, though cycling was still completely painless, running was painless and walking was better the longer my stride, though it sometimes came back quite hard as soon as I stopped walking. It seemed to swither between hip and knee when standing, which felt slightly tendonish to me, though it was definitely more hippy/bum than knee. It was then fine when sitting, particularly in a comfy work-chair, though would be followed by tingling after standing up, becoming painful again if I tried to stand still. I sought medical advice when it had been at the painful-to-stand stage for a couple of weeks, which included the half-term week when I was off and therefore probably making it worse through lots of low-speed standing-about at home. Waiting that long appeared to have been the correct thing to do, as I was sent straight for a hip X-ray (which showed nothing unusual) rather than being told to report back if it didn't improve; shortly after getting the results that it started to dissipate, possibly aided by any out of the physio exercises they told me to get off the internet (rather than waiting five months fo an appointment), or possibly by Diclofenac, or possibly by being back on my normal bike rather than the differently-saddled drainpipe monster, which I'd been on since early December (when it got icy) but was then trapped on during the epithet insurance saga.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    I went to a sports injuries clinic when I developed knee pain after a lot of hillwalking. They diagnosed sciatica and showed me a series of stretches which fixed the problem. So when I started having problems sitting for long periods on my bike last year and someone mentioned piriformis syndrome I was happy to try some stretches. Those together with a new saddle fixed the problem. I would recommend that you get a second opinion from a sports injuries clinic as other people's diagnoses could probably mislead you into making things worse though.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. Snowy
    Member

    Some years back I had significant pain brought on by running(and walking) but not by cycling. Would radiate around lower back and hip on one side. Initially misdiagnosed as pinching of sciatic nerve (piriformis syndrome) but subsequent correct diagnosis is an overly mobile sacroiliac joint. No issue with cycling but regular running not a good idea.

    So point is there can be quite a few causes of lower back pain; some will be fine to cycle with and some won't.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. Rosie
    Member

    I have sciatica on and off - not so bad that I can't walk, as an ex-partner of mine used to have, but oscillates between a slight twinge to painful. I also have osteo-arthritis in the knees. I get other back problems as well, usually a pulled muscle which gets better with physio.

    I do some Pilates and stretching exercises for the sciatica, which helps quite a bit & the physio said I should do some core strengthening every day. For the pulled muscles in the back I stop cycling until healed but the sciatica has not prevented me from cycling as yet. As for the osteo-arthritis, my walking limit is about 4 hours before it starts getting painful (walking poles are a great help) but cycling doesn't affect it at all.

    So it depends where the back pain is and how bad it is.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. Rosie
    Member

    & speaking as a total non expert, if it's not hurting you, why not do it? Your back will moan at you if you try and lift heavy objects - or even light ones sometimes - but if it's keeping quiet on your cycle, why not continue.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. Mandopicker101
    Member

    Thanks all for your helpful comments and thoughts.

    Having managed 28 miles in the past two days I don't feel any worse for it, and the partial numbness down the front of my shinbone feels a little better, although getting on/off requires a little more thought than previously. So I'm minded to keep on with the (gentle) cycling. If nothing else, I hate being sat on a bus in traffic when I can see the cycle path and plenty of folk zipping along.

    Observations from the last two days suggests that my left leg doesn't have it's usual 'power'. Not that I'm Peter Sagan, ripping up the tarmac on my ride to work as I pull a wheelie. No, it's more a case of noticing that I can't put the hammer down briefly to get away from a busy junction or stand in the pedals to get up a short, sharp hill. The power/strength/ability to command the muscles just isn't there or if feels like my leg can't manage (cue Scotty - 'The engines cannae tak ony more surr, ye cannae change the laws o' physics'). When going steady/easy it doesn't feel like a problem.

    Likewise, trying to walk faster than an unconcerned amble is tricky. My leg doesn't quite seem to understand what's being asked of it. 'The leg is willing, but the flesh is weak', if you will.

    The masseur I saw recently showed me some very gentle stretches to give me some relief just now, but looking ahead I'm minded to do some more serious work on core body strength to try and avoid further problems. Although this episode hasn't been as bad as one three years ago (when Mandopicker did uncanny impersonations of an australopithecine) I'd rather not go through this again...

    As I've been using Ibuprofen for a couple of weeks, I'll go see my GP next week for advice on what to do. I daresay I'll be told it's 7,8,9 weeks wait to see a physio/other specialist and if I can pay privately, I should do so (this is what I was told last time round).

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. Rosie
    Member

    I pay for a physio for instant attention. It's worth paying to nip these problems in the bud. I go to Gladwin in Morningside and it's about £38 for an hour.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. amir
    Member

    I agree with Rosie - FASIC at the University in the Pleasance are good. I do agree about building core strength in the long term. Pilates is good.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  10. Rosie
    Member

    The NHS is rubbish for backs, as they don't make them a priority.

    I broke my shoulder last year and was given a course of physio on the NHS as soon as the bone healed. It was very good, conscientious treatment lasting a few months.

    Because of the broken shoulder I couldn't tend my garden, so as soon I was half-healed I did about five hours of intensive digging and pulled a muscle in my back, so I could hardly walk. Bundled myself straight into a taxi and went to a physio in the Newtown, my regular guy being on holiday. So I was seeing two different physios.

    I find with backs the GPs are useless - they give you painkillers and a referral several centuries away and that's all.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  11. Nelly
    Member

    +1 for Snowys post.

    I thought I had sciatica a few months back, turns out it was sacroiliac.

    Got some brilliant specific stretches to do post exercise and they keep me right.

    The problem, as always, is correct and swift diagnosis.

    Posted 9 years ago #

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